Chapter 11

At the end of the week, Galinda invited the couple to join the little group again, this time they all met under a large mossy tree far enough away from Suicide Canal that Elphaba felt safe enough. She was surprised she had agreed to come at all, but she did feel slightly less uneasy with Fiyero by her side.

Unfortunately, Avaric had also been invited. As they approached the group, she tightened her grip on Fiyero's arm, though he knew exactly what she was trying to do. "Elphaba, I can handle myself. You were right. He didn't know better. It was still rude, but he didn't mean to hurt you," he murmured to her.

"It took you long enough," she muttered back.

"Elphie! Come sit next to me!" Galinda patted the grass beside her.

She sat beside Galinda, making sure Fiyero stayed on her other side. It occurred to her that she was behaving as though she needed him, and she didn't want to need anyone. She dropped her arm from his. "Good afternoon, Miss Galinda."

"Good afternoon, Elphie. Let me introduce you to everyone." Galinda began with the people furthest from her. "You already know Boq. That's Crope and Tibbett. There's Pfanee and Shen-Shen, my roommates. Oh, and Avaric. Everyone, this is Elphaba and her husband, Fiyero."

The young man raised his eyebrows. "This group just got even weirder. The heathen and the freak."

"Don't you dare speak about my wife like that." Fiyero snapped.

Elphaba stopped him from getting up again. "Fiyero, don't."

"What is your problem, anyway?" Fiyero demanded, brushing Elphaba's arm away.

"What's hers?" Avaric pointed at her.

"I got sick when I looked at your face," she replied quickly.

Fiyero snorted.

"And you're married to her," Avaric didn't let anyone's anger stop him from continuing his verbal assault. "Tell me, is she green everywhere?"

"That's it," Fiyero clenched his teeth. "If you don't stop talking about her this way, I might…" He got up, making fists.

"No you won't, Fiyero." Elphaba said. "Because if you do, you're in more trouble than you think. Now sit down."

He glared at Avaric but did as she asked.

Galinda nudged Avaric with her elbow. "Avaric, you're being incredibly rude."

It appeared that Boq was not the only one currently enchanted with Galinda, and he took one look at her and backed down. "I apologize."

In that moment, Elphaba warmed to Galinda more than she thought she ever would. Making eye contact with the blonde, she mouthed, "Thank you."

The young woman nodded back at her with a gentle smile.

After an uncomfortable pause, the brunette girl (was she Shen-Shen or Pfanee? Elphaba couldn't recall) ventured to ask a question. "So you two are married?"

"Yes," Fiyero answered. She could hear his breath returning to normal.

"For how long?"

"Just about a month now." He put a hand on Elphaba's shoulder.

"Oh, how sweet. Do you guys live over in the apartments?" The other girl, the redhead, asked.

"Yes," Elphaba answered. "It's not so bad."

The two boys, Crope and Tibbet, both with black hair, were looking her up and down now and she was getting uneasy until one of them said, "What size dress do you wear?"

"That is not a very polite question," she shook her head. "And why in Oz is that something you feel you need to know?"

"Well, you look like we might be the same size and I was hoping maybe I could borrow a dress sometime."

"Borrow a dress?" Elphaba was bewildered.

"Of course."

She exchanged a look with Fiyero, who seemed equally as lost. "I don't think you'd like my clothes. They all look the same."

"How disappointing."

"How has the first week of classes been treating you, Elphaba?" Boq asked.

"It's been very interesting. So far I think my favorite class, though, has got to be life sciences. Dr. Dillamond is no-nonsense and he definitely knows what he's talking about."

"He does seem intelligent, though sometimes I find his bleating hard to understand," Galinda opined.

"You just need to listen carefully. And he writes almost everything on the board for us. You can't miss much." Elphaba felt a little defensive. Would Galinda be seeing the same thing if their new professor merely had an accent and was human? Fiyero had a minor accent, yet no one complained about not being able to understand him. In fact, Elphaba very much enjoyed Fiyero's accent. The way he said her name was beautiful, melodic. She'd always hated her name until she heard him speak it.

"She's right," Fiyero added. "I can follow him, and I'm not even from around here."

She smiled at him. "Exactly."

"Perhaps," Galinda said grudgingly. "I just don't like the way he says my name. My parents always felt it very important that the 'Gah' was emphasized."

"Well, Animal tongues and mouths are often shaped differently. In fact, there are anthropologists that have studied the skulls of people from different parts of Oz and found that even those jaws differ depending on where in Oz you're from. It could be something he simply can't control. You can't blame him for something he can't help." Fiyero said.

She had never liked her husband more than she did at that moment. "Fiyero has a point."

"That he does," Galinda acknowledged.

"Do the two of you read one another's minds?" Avaric asked. "Married couples are sickening. You two have probably known one another forever. Of course you think the same."

"Actually," Fiyero said tensely, "I've known her for just about as long as we've been married. We're from completely different places, completely different families."

"Wait, really?" Shen-Shen asked. "Then how did you two end up married? Was it arranged?"

"It was." Elphaba shrugged, trying to act as though it wasn't a big deal.

"Ah, I get it. That makes more sense now. Why would anyone marry you unless they were forced?" Avaric wrinkled his nose at Elphaba.

"I thought we'd had enough of this," Galinda said slowly, glaring at Avaric. "I stated an opinion, it was misguided. You don't have to continue the conversation, Avaric."

"Why are you even here?" Fiyero shook his head at the older boy. "All you do is insult people. I can't imagine anyone is currently enjoying your company."

"I've just as much of a right as you, if not more, to be here."

"Can we take a vote on that?" Fiyero asked, half-joking.

"Oh, look who is so keen on voting, the freaking prince of the Vinkus. Were you elected? I don't think so. Why don't you let us civilized people handle things?" Avaric apparently knew more about Fiyero's culture than he let on.

Fiyero bit his lip.

"At least he doesn't make snap judgements of people based on their looks. He's much more civilized than you," Elphaba shot back.

"Stop it!" Galinda shouted. "Avaric, you are ruining this lovely afternoon. I'm leaving!" The blonde grabbed her purse and stood up. "I hope you're happy!"

After that, everyone else dispersed quickly, though Elphaba noticed some unpleasant looks between Avaric and Fiyero. When they were finally out of earshot of everyone else, she said, "I'm not so sure I want to do that again anytime soon, maybe not ever."

"Not if he's going to be there. Sweet Oz, it felt like it was the two of us against him and everyone else was just watching to see who won."

"Fiyero," she said, "sometimes I think it's the two of us against the world."